Pacheco, Nuno

3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Público - Portugal | 19/08/2007

Can Portugal welcome the dictator Robert Mugabe ?

Nuno Pacheco is worried about the possible arrival in Portugal, that has just take over the revolving European presidency, of the Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe for an EU-Africa summit scheduled in December. "Robert Mugabe who was once a figure of hope in the struggle against injustices in Africa, which landed him in prison (from 1964 to 1974), is now an implacable tyrant. And the polemic surrounding his arrival in Portugal ... is bound to have consequences. We cannot let the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Joao Gomes Cravinho, say that this is a subject of 'relative importance'. Regarding Mugabe, there cannot be any 'relative importance': this is a dictator who has been driven mad by power. ... It is imperative that he be shown that he is not welcome."

The question of housing and the homeless in France

Nuno Pachec reacts to the debate that is currently unfolding in France on the treatment of homeless people. "[The French Prime Minister] Dominique de Villepin announced that French citizens could demand, through a law, the right to a roof. This is already the case in Portugal with the article 65 of the Constitution. But it is only a principle: human, defendable, but utopian ... The numerous homeless people in our towns can testify. Hence the surprise upon hearing Villepin's declaration that he feels capable of guaranteeing what seems impossible to put into practice elsewhere. A relative surprise, however, if we are to remember that France is in the midst of a pre-election campaign and that promises in the social sector are synonymous with votes. ... If we are to believe Villepin, the homeless and badly housed will be able to turn to the law, from 2008 for the homeless and 2012 for anyone living in unsanitary conditions, in order to obtain the roof they are entitled to ... The French State is thus becoming a pioneer in the matter, for only Scotland has also taken up this initiative with the Homeless act."

Tom and Jerry accused of setting a bad example

Nuno Pacheco denounces the fundamentalism of anti-tobacco crusaders whose fight on behalf of public health occasionally leads to blatant censorship. "A few days ago, a British citizen discerned a dangerous incitement to smoke in two Tom and Jerry cartoons: in one, there was someone smoking a cigarette, in the other, a cigar. The zealous citizen filed a complaint on the grounds that this was harmful to children. He was heeded: the scenes were cut. For whose benefit ? That of the children ? ... It would be normal to see them, knife in hand, chasing their parents or throwing their brothers out the window. This is what we can see in cartoons. For the time being, none has complained. ... Countries where drugs, war and violence are a daily spectacle for everyone (including children) take pleasure in cracking down on minor dangers in an attempt to reveal an inner purity that they lack."